Ryan Burns, Mrs. Stutz, English p4, 6 May 2014
Doping in Sports
History of Doping
Many people believe that doping (taking a drug to enhance performance and beat the competition) was derived from the Dutch word Dop- the name for an alcoholic beverage made from the skins of grapes and started with the Zulu warriors taking it to improve their battle prowess. It is now known that the ancient Greek athletes used special diets and potions to enhance their performance. In the 19th century, cyclists and other endurance athletes started using strychnine, caffeine, cocaine, and alcohol to improve their performance over long-distance races.
Doping on a Professional Level
At the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, Thomas Hicks used raw egg, brandy, and injections of strychnine to win the marathon race. This event caused most people to realize that performance-enhancing drugs need to be outlawed, for the safety of the athlete and the spectator both. It wasn't until 1928 that the IAAF (athletics) became the first International Sport Federation (IF) to ban doping (use of stimulating substances). Not until 1966, the UCI (cycling) and FIFA (football/soccer) were among the first IFs to introduce doping tests in their respective World Championships. It was in 1967 that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) instituted its medical commission and finally set up its first list of banned substances.
First Successful Tests for Steroids
Although most IFs instituted drug testing in the 1970s, the use of anabolic steroids had already become widespread, and it was just too hard to detect them yet. Finally, in 1974, a reliable method for the testing of performance-enhancing drugs was found, and people were starting to get caught. One of those who were caught was a Swedish pentathlete named Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall. He was the first athlete ever to test positive for doping at the Olympic Games.
The Risks of Performance Enhancing Drugs
It is essential to understand that performance-enhancing drugs can harm you in more ways than it can help you. The list of side effects goes on and on with problems such as: “Acne, Male pattern baldness, Liver Damage*, Premature closure of the growth centers of long bones (in adolescents) which may result in stunted growth*, Stunted growth and disruption of puberty in children” as well as: “Palpitations, Headaches, Sweating, Nausea, Muscle cramps, Nervousness.” Just from these few sentences, we can see that performance-enhancing drugs can cause some major pain and grief in your future life if you take them. Is performance-enhancing drugs worth the risk? Going off of what my previous pages have stated, taking performance-enhancing drugs isn’t the best idea if you want to get bigger and stronger. Performance-enhancing drugs are, and will be forever, harmful to your health and state of mind.
The first case of performance enhancing drugs in sports came before the discovery of anabolic steroids and is believed to be that of a British road bicycle racer named Arthur Linton. At the age of twenty four, he died during a race between Bordeaux and Paris in 1886. Controversy then soon arose when he was believed to have taken a stimulant called trimethyl at the time of his death.
The first drug test was taken at the Mexico Games in 1968. At these games the IOC(International Olympic Committee) developed a list of banned substances (7 Anonymous). This list included stimulants, beta-blockers, and anabolic steroids etc. Unfortunately, because of limited technology athletes learned how to get around the system. Athletes would substitute urine samples and some would stop using their drug in sufficient time so no trace of the drug would be in the blood before tests (7 Anonymous). But in 1983, drug testing was refined. The i...
The problems with performance enhancing drugs are that they give the user unfair advantages over other athletes and come with many health risks such as baldness. Steroid use can result in very substantial legal consequences and can ruin the user’s reputation. There are many alternatives to steroids but not all of them are safe. Different organizations have different rules on steroids, but in most cases, the user can get suspended, fined, or even both. Various types of steroids can have various short-term or long-term side effects. There are several types of steroids, the most popular ones being anabolic steroids. Historically, steroids have been around for many years, but the debate surrounding them started recently, more specifically a few decades ago. An important term to know is anabolic steroids which are made to work with the user’s muscle mass. Another term to know is clarified by Ida Walker, author of the book, Steroids: Pumped Up and Dangerous, published by Mason Crest Publishers in 2008, defines, peliosis hepatis is a rare condition in which cysts filled with blood form in the liver, if the cysts were to pop then internal bleeding would occur. A positive argument about steroids is stated by Adrianne Blue, author of the essay, “Performance Enhancing Drugs Should Be Legal,” published in the book Athletes and Drug Use, published in 2009, disputes, “Blue concludes that legalizing performance- enhancing drugs can protect athletes from dangerously abusing them.” The utilization of performance enhancing drugs has left a giant scar on sports and has compromised the achievements of many athletes; therefore, they are transforming the sports world into a drug filled world.
I. The effect of performance enhancement drugs on track and field athletes poses physical problems for the athletes.
The use of performance enhancing supplements has long played a role in athletics, especially after the utilization of drug testing was introduced during the 1972 Olympics.
Anabolic Steroids or simply put, “Steroids”, is a medicine which has become increasingly popular in the last few decades, specifically in the world of professional sports and body building. In a literal term, the word anabolic means building of the body muscle and by using anabolic steroids, the potential user becomes stronger, sharper, larger and tougher than he would normally be. The consequences of these steroids could be much bigger to a human body and the usage of such illegal products could put an individual’s body at great risk (Haupt & Rovere, 1983).
It is NFL Sunday and you are ready to see some of your favorite athletes to go head to head on the grid iron. However, you notice something a little different your favorite athlete seems to be more aggressive and his body has changed substantially. That famous athlete that you know and adore was caught for taking performance enhancing drugs that was the reasoning for your unanswered questions about his odd transformations. Bigger, better, stronger each professional athlete tries to achieve that when they are preparing to compete in their sport, but there are some that get a little help to be better, bigger, and stronger. These athletes use performance enhancing drugs; performance enhancing drugs are a man-made or synthetic version of testosterone. Someone who takes the performance enhancing drug illegally will likely gain weight muscle and get stronger. The athletes will love the result they are getting from taking the performance enhancing drugs and would want more and that is when this synthetic drug can become harmful. The performance enhancing drugs can cause many major side effects and the most severe is death. That is why athletes should think twice about taking performance enhancing drugs because strength, endurance, and energy is not worth all the side effects that come with taking the illegal substance. The athletes who risk their lives just to be better at their sport is not beneficial in the long run.
The pros of using sports enhancing drugs include physical enhancement bigger body mass improves strength and endurance improved performance. Steroids increase muscle mass and strength which helps athletes recover quicker from injuries.
Athletes are always searching for ways to enhance their performance. Recently, beginning in the 1950s, that search has included the use of illegal substances like steroids and growth hormones. Illegal substances have been used widely by athletes in hopes of achieving the desired Olympic gold medal or multi-million dollar contract. Some nations, for example the late East Germany in the 1970s and 1980s, have mandated the use of steroids by their athletes. The downside of using those illegal substances is that because they are illegal, getting caught using them can lead to losing that coveted gold medal, a lifetime ban from sports, and a total loss of honor and dignity.
The problems for males is that PEDs gives them breast tissue development, shrinks testicles, Cause baldness, and also reduces sperm production. For females it deepens their voice, hair grows more everywhere, and also ends breast development. PEDS also cause blood cancer, strokes, heart attacks, thyroid problems, and for men feminization. These drugs are easy to take but can also easily kill you. Once you start seeing some of your body changes, you will want to have more. Once you get addicted you might see some bad physical appearances. People who take anabolic steroids should know they come with major physical side effects. Once you start getting those appearances and everybody notices it will be the time your coach or trainer realizes it.
Performance enhancing drugs are known to cause numerous diseases such as tumors, cancer, and can cause fertility problems. There are numerous cases of players dying or ruining their careers because they have gotten caught up in getting bigger and taking these drugs For instance in professional wrestling alone, 28 people have died because of PED’s (All of these people are died younger than 45 years old.) (wrestlinginc.com, 2010). There are hundreds of known PED’s. The most commonly used drug is steroids which gives you an increased risk of heart and liver disease. Players use this drug because it makes you have better endurance, it makes your blood flow faster and it makes you stronger. Another popular PED is Human Growth Hormone. This drug has been and still ...
Drug use in sports is considered cheating. Doping has many historical backgrounds, but now it is on a larger scale in order to maximiz...
Doping is a practice that has been going on since the time of "ancient Greek athletes, who supposedly ate herbs, sesame seeds, dried figs, and mushrooms for this purpose" (Hoberman, 1992, 104). Likewise, athletes have readily consumed such drugs as caffeine and alcohol to improve performa...
Persuasive Essay Taking drugs, also known as doping has been recognized as a problem since the 1960s. According to https://theconversation.com taking drugs is the most common problem in the Olympics. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), has banned specific types of drugs such as androgens, blood dope, and stimulants in the Olympics. Caffeine was also one of the drugs that was banned, but WADA lifted the ban in 2004.
Doping rids the true athletes of what they truly deserve and is wrong; because why should those who put in a hundred per cent of their effort, be outshone by individuals who are choosing to use substances to enhance their physical and mental abilities? Doping damages the sports industry as a whole because it has a serious physical and mental effects on the athletes, as well as damaging the idea of sportsmanship and it also breaks the trust of the fans, as they realise their idols are hypocrites. Doping in sports dates back to the ancient Greek times (need ref here). There are anti-doping agencies worldwide in virtually every country. In Switzerland its anti-doping Switzerland, in Nigeria it’s the Nigerian national anti-doping committee and in the UK its UK anti-doping.